Oh the Sicky Days of Pregnancy...
We found out we were pregnant on August 9, 2016. We were about to head to a Zac Brown concert at Fenway Park and I walked out of the bathroom and said to my husband, “That was easy!” with the positive pregnancy test in my hand. I had literally been off birth control for two months and that was that, thanks to Ovulation Kits at Amazon- For me, this was the last easy part of a baby!
I was very grateful that we did not struggle at all with infertility. I was 29 years old and was not sure how long it would take to get pregnant. That being said, we were pregnant much quicker than we anticipated. I had recently started a new job, we had six weddings coming up and a lot of traveling scheduled. Now, I got to try to survive those things while hiding a pregnancy!
In the first few weeks of being pregnant, we were blissfully happy. I felt great, was eating healthy, working out frequently and sleeping like a champ. I gave up my beloved white wine and cold cuts for a baby healthy diet. I researched the best prenatal vitamin (Here it is- Vitamin ) and drank a lot of water. We kept our secret close and my husband and I talked about the baby constantly when we were alone- how we were going to decorate the nursery, how surprised we were going to be about the sex when he or she was born in April, what we were going to register for, etc.
Then, those blissful weeks came crashing down at about week seven… out came the nausea and exhaustion. I felt like I had a combination of the stomach flu, motion sickness and food poisoning all in one. Vegetables made me want to throw up so I ate bagels, bread and pizza- diet of champions, I know. I gained weight more quickly than I probably should have. I fell asleep on the couch as soon as I got home from work every night and as someone who never takes a nap or falls asleep anywhere other than my bed, this was proof to me that this little person inside of me was taking over my life. I basically stopped working out because I couldn’t function past 5pm. I had to fake feeling fine all the time- at work, out with friends, at family parties and it was killing me. I had to pull over and use so many public restrooms on my way to work that I lost count. I resented all the overjoyed pregnant ladies that I saw everywhere. These were the sicky days of pregnancy and I don’t miss them at all! I also give any woman so much credit who does this like 5 or 6 times- God Bless You!
At eight weeks, after our first prenatal appointment at Mass General Hospital and we could hear the heartbeat, we began to tell family and close friends. This was exciting and such a relief. At twelve weeks, we let the world know (By twelve weeks, the feeling like death part also passed so for all you ladies in that right now, it will end! Try these to take the edge off- Sea Bands). I also forgot to mention that I was the earliest showing pregnant woman ever and was noticeably pregnant by three months. This was my favorite part of being pregnant- the exhaustion subsided, the morning sickness stopped and I had a cute little baby bump! Unfortunately, the little baby bump was short lived and by nineteen weeks and our first ultrasound, I swear I looked six months pregnant!
Spoiler Alert- if you look six months pregnant at nineteen weeks (see picture below), you’re having TWINS! Let the games begin.
This picture was taken at 19 weeks pregnant in Cork, Ireland. (Yes, traveling is possible when pregnant! Tricks for that coming in a later post!)